The Wonderful 101

Although EA may have pulled back its support for the Wii U, other developers are backing Nintendo’s HD console. The biggest supporter and the most visible at E3 2013 was Platinum Games. The talented team has two major titles coming out for the system. The first is Bayonetta 2 and renowned director Hideki Kamiya’s new project The Wonderful 101. I had a chance to play both at Nintendo’s booth this week.

Bayonetta 2 is one of the main reasons I have the Wii U. The original was one of the best titles of its generation. It’s over-the-top action and twitchy gameplay was the epitome of fun. It moved the genre forward with its Witch Time and gunplay. Although she may have a different haircut this time around, the sequel led by Yusuke Hashimoto carries over the feel of the first one.

I had no idea what was going on with the level other than Bayonetta seems to be fending off the same Angel enemies as before. Her sometimes ally Jeane lends a hand until a disasterous incident. Trying something different, I used the touchpad control scheme, where players only use the stylus to fight foes on the Wii U gamepad screen. The game looked so good on the controller that I didn’t even notice that it was also playing on the TV in front of me. I assume this means Bayonetta 2 supports off-TV-screen play.